He clearly relishes the opportunity to have another chance at playoff success.

“Everybody is excited,” Ryan said. “I'm excited for the opportunity that's in front of us. This is what you work for. You put in all the time that you put in during the offseason, during training camp, during OTAs, during minicamp to try and give yourself an opportunity to be playing this time of year. I think everybody is really excited.”

Ryan has not passed for more than 200 yards in any of his playoff losses to the Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, all of whom went on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

After last season’s 24-2 humiliating wild-card loss to the Giants, Ryan walked off the field at MetLife Stadium with his head held high.

He would deal with the disappointment later. After taking a couple of weeks off, he went back to the team’s training facilities and started working out.

He figured that with a new weight-training regimen, he could be stronger at end of the season and be able to function better in the playoffs.

Ryan, all season long, has not dodged the fact that he and the Falcons face stifling pressure to produce postseason success.

“You learn from those four or five plays that changed the outcome of those games,” Ryan said. “The intensity is probably a little bit (greater). The quicker that you can settle yourself down and start trying to execute, the better.”

Ryan will enter the playoffs coming off his best season as a pro.

He completed 422 of 614 passes (68.9 percent) for 4,719 yards, 32 touchdowns and a career-best 99.1 passer rating, with 14 interceptions. He set franchise marks for attempts, completions, completion percentage, yards and touchdowns as he guided the Falcons to a 13-3 record, the NFC South title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

In the first year of the vertical passing scheme installed by new coordinator Dirk Koetter, Ryan flourished.

“We’ve proven that we can go out there and be successful,” Ryan said. “You have to buy into that. You have to believe that.”

Ryan is also confident that his receivers—four-time Pro Bowler Roddy White and first-time Pro Bowler Julio Jones—will come through for him against Seattle.

“I feel more comfortable with the guys around me,” Ryan said. “Having been in my second year with Julio Jones now adds to that confidence level. Knowing (wide receiver) Roddy White and having played with him for five years and understanding him inside and out. …He understands me the same way. I think that helps.”

The Falcons don’t sense that Ryan is putting any additional pressure on his shoulders.

“He’s doing an excellent job,” White said. “He’s been mentally prepared throughout the whole season for this stretch run. He knows that we have to win a playoff game.

“Everybody kind of knows that. Not to put any extra pressure on him, but I just think that at this point in the season everybody knows that they have to play their best football right now.”

White, who was selected in 2005 draft, has been alongside Ryan for all the playoff woes. He hasn’t detected any difference in the quarterback’s approach in the postseason.

“He wants to go out there and play his best football,” White said. “I don’t think that in the playoffs that we’ve given it our best shot and given ourselves a chance to win the games.”

Koetter believes Ryan is ready for a playoff breakthrough.

“Matt is going to play just like he played all year,” Koetter said. “There is no reason to think otherwise. Matt is one of the most prepared guys, if not the most prepared guy, on our team. If you are prepared and do your homework and you trust your players, there is no reason to suspect that he wouldn’t go out there and play well.”

The Seahawks are a popular choice to pull an upset—a stance that stems as much from the Falcons’ poor playoff history under Mike Smith as the Seahawks’ blazing finish (they have won six straight, including last week’s playoff victory over Washington).

But White predicts things are about to change for himself, Ryan and the Falcons.

“With the team that we have now, and all of the guys that have been around each other, with him leading us as a group and knowing that everybody is on the same page, it’s going to be a different outcome,” White said.

Ryan knows that a lot is riding on this match against the hot Seahawks, but he doesn’t plan to be overwhelmed by the moment.

“I don’t worry about it,” Ryan said. “I don’t think about it. My focus is on this locker room—the guys and the coaching staff. We’re all together. We’ve worked really hard during the course of the offseason and through training camp and OTAs to get ourselves an opportunity to be playing at this time of year.

“We want to play our best football and really that’s the only thing I’m worried about. Trying to do whatever we can do to play our best football Sunday.”